County to Help Technology Think Tank
Charleston Gazette
January 11, 2008
http://wvgazette.com/section/News/2008011046
By Rusty Marks
Staff writer
At the urging of Gov. Joe Manchin, Kanawha County officials agreed Thursday to give up to $500,000 to the Mid-Atlantic Technology Research and Innovation Center to help ease the sting of massive layoffs at Dow Chemical.
Dow officials recently announced they would lay off 150 to 200 research and development specialists at the former Union Carbide technical center in South Charleston. Most of the scientists and engineers who work at the center make more than $100,000 a year.
State and county officials believe the economic impact of the layoffs will be devastating unless someone can find a way to keep the talented and highly paid Dow workers from leaving the state. They hope the center, also known as MATRIC, can help.
MATRIC was set up in 2003 to help ease the Kanawha Valley’s brain drain by finding other work for specialists laid off in chemical industry downsizing plans. Keith Pauley, a St. Albans native and NASA rocket scientist who returned to his home state to run MATRIC, told members of the Kanawha County Commission on Thursday that MATRIC currently employs about 70 people, 32 of them full-time.
Pauley also hopes to find work for many of the specialists who will lose their jobs under Dow’s new round of layoffs. He told county commissioners Kent Carper, Dave Hardy and Hoppy Shores that he hopes to create 150 to 200 new jobs within the next three years and create $50 million in new business.
But to do that, MATRIC needs seed money now. Manchin’s budget, revealed Wednesday, proposes $2 million in state funding for the organization. Carper said the governor expects the Kanawha County Commission and the city of South Charleston to pitch in to help MATRIC.
Carper, Hardy and Shores agree the county should help MATRIC. “These are Kanawha County jobs, and they will be lost forever if we don’t take a chance,” said Carper.
But before turning over $500,000 in taxpayer money to the organization, commissioners made Pauley agree to conduct MATRIC’s business out in the open, in accordance with state open meetings laws.
Also Thursday, commissioners agreed to pick up the tab for half of a new police car for the town of Clendenin. Town officials currently have two used police cars, each with more than 130,000 miles of wear.
“We have one that still has bullet holes from where it was shot up one night,” said Clendenin Town Councilman and former mayor Kenny Payne.
Carper said he would probably be criticized for helping town officials buy a new car, but said town officials haven’t asked for help recently, and deserve the same attention as any other town.
“Clendenin is part of Kanawha County,” he said.
To contact staff writer Rusty Marks, use e-mail or call 348-1215.